Lab 7 - MEDS Protect

GIS 4048

In this weeks lab I took what I prepared in Lab 6 and put it to use in the Protection of the Boston Marathon. The first objective for my Critical Infrastructure and Buffer Zones map shown below, was to isolate a 3 mile security zone around the Boston Marathon finish line.  With this event buffer identified I needed to isolate the 10 closest hospitals or medical centers in near proximity to the finish line.  I accomplished this by utilizing the near tool in ArcGIS.  I created a five hundred foot security perimeter around these locations and the finish line using the Buffer tool.  This was done to mitigate any threats should an event occur.  Security Checkpoints needed to be set up at the perimeter of the finish line buffer.  I was able to identify locations for these security checkpoints by using the intersect tool after identifying what local roads intersected the 500 foot buffer zone.  These locations were added to my inset map as a point feature class.  With all the data I utilized the Military Portrait Layout to populate key information needed by the readers and verified my map essentials.

The second map went into the surveillance of the finish line and the surrounding areas.  To do this I used a multitude of tools to identify optimal locations and elevations for cameras around the Boston Marathon finish line.  Identifying these locations and understanding what could be seen from the vantage point allowed security to know where best to place security assets.  In this map I utilized LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) while exploring the LAS toolbar.  The LAS toolbar allowed me the capability to convert an LAS dataset to Raster.  Exploring and preparing my elevation data was critical for the next steps in the process.  I generated a Hillshade surface layer using the Raster I created from the LAS toolbar. This allowed me to identify areas of shade for a specific day and time utilizing the Altitude and Azimuth settings.  Adding in the Orthoimagery, the shading took on a new life as the buildings cast their shadows.  It was like stepping back in time at 2:30pm that afternoon and seeing where the shadows fell across the landscape.

Next came the selection of security points that I felt would provide optimal observation areas.  I selected 15 points and proceeded to generate a Viewshed of the area based off of those points. My initial findings were that all of my viewpoints were in good spots as I felt that the green shading meant I could clearly see the finish line. However this was soon to be disproved.  I created line of sight lines from my cameras to the finish line and quickly discovered that my points were blocked by other obstructions along the path.  I had to go back and update the elevations on most of my camera locations.  Several meters were added to the elevation and the viewshed was recalculated until I found a good height for each camera giving me as little obscurement to the finish line as possible.

I utilized the the Create Profile Graph tool in the 3D analyst toolbar to generate a graph of Camera 4 showing its location and what distances could be obscured from view.

Next I utilized ArcScene to create a 3D model of the area in and around the finish line.  This by far was the best part of the lab.  Manipulating the model I could fly through the landscape.  Laying the Ortho layer on top of the elevation layer gave me a sense of dimension while working with the layers.  I copied and pasted over the Line of Sight lines and exported the layer so as to be added into my layout.

I finished the map with a custom layout, identifying all map essentials and adding the information that was needed.

Although very time consuming, I felt this lab was a great!  I was able to reinforce skills I already had and was able to utilize new tools to produce the results that were desired on my deliverable map.  I believe next week we move on to Local Government...can't wait!